Glass wine bottles with aluminum screw off caps have been in use for many years. A capping assembly currently used on treaded wine bottles is referred to in the wine industry as a “Stelvin® type capsule” (referred to hereinafter as an “ST capsule” or simply “capsule”). This capping assembly, when Installed on a threaded glass wine bottle, creates the appearance of a conventional corked wine bottle with a metal foil wrapper/skirt. An ST capsule is a generally cylindrical, tubular aluminum member with an upper closed end and a lower open end. The tubular member has an internal diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the threaded end portion of the wine bottle. ST capsules are designed to be used with standardized bottle neck finishes including BVS finish BVP-GME 30.13 and BVS FINISH US-GPI 1680-03.
An ST capsule is applied by placing the open end of the capsule over the wine bottle neck and sliding the capsule down the neck until the closed end of the capsule contacts the top edge of the bottle. The capsule is then crimped into place with a rotating assembly that urges the top portion of the capsule against the threads of the bottle, causing the top portion of the capsule to form receiving threads that conform to the shape of the bottle threads. Once the capsule is installed, the capsule top portion may be tom away from the lower portion by hand twisting the top portion. The top portion of the capsule then functions as a screw off cap. Such ST capsules are commercially available from various sources, for example, Amcor Flexibles, 5425 Broadway Street, American Canyon, Calif., 94503, USA.
Another type of ST capsule, a “prethreaded ST capsule,” is also available from Amcor. The prethreaded ST capsule has preformed threads in the capsule top portion and does not require on bottle crimping thread formation with a rotating assembly, as does the ST capsule described in the immediately preceding paragraph.